They are everywhere in every city, wherever you look you will see uncompleted houses, or housing projects that had stayed under construction for a long period of time, usually the site will be inactive or totally abandoned. In some extreme cases, the delayed or abandoned houses will be prone to pilfering, or outright stealing of building materials and other valuable items in the compound. So what are the causes of these types of unfortunate situations? I will outline a few of the main reasons below.
1. Failure to plan with professionals.
Some people still do not understand that those trained in relevant fields of construction are well placed to understand a lot of things that needs to be done before a building is started. Some will think its costly to hire professionals, and they will attempt to do some of the works themselves. Failure to involve professional advice even before a building is started can lead to avoidable mistakes like to adherence to necessary set backs required for the building in the compound it will be. Another mistake it might lead to is not planning the layout of the rooms, or not providing the building with enough headroom to make the building functional. In cases like this, the owner of the building may spend more money correcting the errors, and might get frustrated over the difficulty in making the corrections, then abandon the project.
2. Check government regulations
Another leading cause of building delays or abandonment is lack of adherence to government building regulations. There are recommended set backs for the front of buildings, the sides, and to the fence and to other buildings. There are also specified building heights, some areas could also be zoned to be low or high density areas. The building owner/investor should find out these government regulations and ensure he adheres to them. Failure to follow government regulations can lead to work stoppages, building enforcement or outright building demolitions. To avoid surprises which could lead to projects abandonment, always check the government approval authorities for their regulations.
3. Lack of financial planning
Your building is usually a major financial item. A lot of resources are going to be deployed to make it successful. In fact, a lot of money will be spent building your house. It is important to plan well for these huge financial commitments, are you going to take out loans to build this house, do you have savings that can complete this house, or do you plan to spend from salaries as they come, or from profits and other passive income to fund this building? These are some of the most important things you have to consider to avoid situations where the building will need money to be spent and you dont have the money to continue spending, resulting in project delays or abandonment.
4. Soured relationships
There could be situation where the professional handling your building project behaves in a way that could be termed as unprofessional, and this has led to misunderstandings, quarrels and fights which can delay, or force a stop to an ongoing building project.
There could also be a situation where the building professional, is fighting for control of the site with the relatives of the owner/investor, or even the paid staff of the the owners or investors due to some unplanned events that may occur in the life of the building project. These two mentioned scenarios, when not properly managed can lead to serious problems that can lead to project delays, and possible abandonment as each side tries to assert their authority over the project. When two elephants fight, the grass suffers, the grass in this case is the house building project.
5. Sickness/Demise of the building owner/key investor
Of course when the person who is most involved in the release of funds for the continuation of a building project suddenly falls sick passes on without an agreed plan of succession, the project will be forced to stop. This is why people should make their plans to ensure the continuation of their projects and programs even when they are indisposed. These plans could come in the form of a planned funding process fixed with the bank or other escrow services, or prepare their wills and place instructions with their financial planners or managers to continue a project whether they are there or not.
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